Jamie Durie's empire move from the outdoors to the indoors

He is famed as a gardening guru, but Jamie Durie has built an international furniture design business that has seen his empire move from the outdoors to the indoors.

Though he is known and loved by television viewers for his “shorts and shovel” approach to landscaping, Durie admits his primary focus is now on living spaces inside the home.

“I guess I’ve moved more into the internal space over the last 10 or 15 years. I mean 80 per cent of what I do now is designing furniture and 80 per cent of that collection is indoor,” Durie says.

“That’s through 55 relationships worldwide, collaborations I should say, most of them in Italy and the US. But a lot of that is starting to permeate here in Australia,” he says.

Infused Zig Zag Spike design, in partnership with B+N Industries

Durie’s high-end designs are already being stocked by stores in Sydney and Melbourne (including the Natuzzi Italia store in the Moore Park SupaCentre in Sydney) but he revealed he is also in talks with some of the nation’s largest retailers.

“I’ve been approached by plenty of retailers here in Australia,” he says. “I’m having a couple of, I guess, secret squirrel discussions with some of them at the moment. But it’s got to be the right fit.

“I’m talking to some of the bigger boys about a greater relationship and it’s important to have a good brand fit, where the retailer, manufacturer and the designer all have shared common interests,” Durie says.

The 47-year-old says he is committed to using responsibly sourced materials that “tread lightly on the environment” and making pieces for furniture that are considered heirloom pieces for families.

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Infused Donkey Tails design, in partnership with B+N Industries

“I’m not interested in designing disposable [pieces]. I want meaningful environments that the family fall in love with and become intrinsically part of the family,” Durie says.

Despite this new venture, Durie’s passion for gardening remains and he believes all Australian families can benefit from an increased amount of greenery indoors. However, his furniture designs take that ethos a step further by introducing the use of natural materials to fit out the family home. 

“People find it a bit hard to [understand] why I moved from landscaping to furniture,” Durie says. “For me, that was a greater challenge in bringing nature into the home in the form of a piece of furniture.”
 
He said he had been thrilled with the response so far to his designs. “People feel like they’re bringing something from the outdoors into their home in a sophisticated way.

“That’s the perfect thing, I guess, that would help people understand what I’m bringing to the furniture world and why I’ve chosen that path.”

Rug collection design, in partnership with The Rug Collection

Industrial design has also been a gateway for a much wider audience – and marketplace – for Durie’s work.

“I can design one piece of furniture and that furniture could stay in production for 100 years and that one piece, that I’ve only designed once, could touch 10 million people,” he says. “So it’s much more gratifying for me to design one piece that gets to touch 10 million people than design one garden that may only ever be viewed by one.”

On top of his credentials in horticulture and landscape architecture, Durie studied industrial design 16 years ago. After making inroads in American and European furniture markets, his focus has now turned to Australian interiors.

He is in the process of moving back to Australia (and hinted that there may be a new television show based on the creation of his new home) and will make guest appearances on The Living Room on Network Ten.

It will give him a chance not just to show off his beloved landscaping skills, but also his eye for design in real-life living rooms.

Elle Ecrit Desk design, in partnership with Riva 1920

“My office is now filled with industrial designers and not so many landscape architects,” says Durie. “For me, it’s the exact same role, only in my opinion everyone’s got a living room, not everyone has [a] garden.”

Durie, who credits Oprah Winfrey “wholly and solely” for his career being launched in the US, says he was excited about returning home this year.

“I’ve always had an amazing relationship with Australia,” says Durie. “When people stop me in the street they call me by my name – ‘hey Jamie, I’ve got an idea for this’ or I might be in a taxi and the taxi driver wants a selfie or I might be on a plane and they might be like ‘hey I took some photos of this Jamie, what do you think of this?'”

“I enjoy that and I think I’m really lucky to be in that position,” Durie says. “This will be my 20th year on air on Australia … it’s hard to achieve, particularly when you are living in two countries, but I’ve managed to keep my toe in the water and still have shows running in Australia every year for 20 years while I’ve nurtured a career in the US.”

“I’m moving back home, really wanting to reconnect with my mates and share some of the knowledge that I’ve gathered over the years,” says Durie.

Jamie Durie appears on The Living Room on the Ten Network from Friday night (February 9) at 7.30pm.

Furnature sofa design, in partnership with Riva 1920

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